Association of Food-Specific Glycemic Load and Distinct Dietary Components with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Within a Mediterranean Dietary Pattern: A Prospective Cohort Study
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Population Characteristics
2.2. GDM Diagnosis
2.3. Food Groups from FFQ
2.4. Dietary Analysis
2.5. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Maternal Characteristics | GDM (N = 117) | Non-GDM (N = 680) | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
Maternal Age (years) | 34.15 (±4.48) | 32.1 (±4.89) | p < 0.0001 * |
Maternal Age > 35 (%) | 51 (43.59%) | 186 (27.35%) | p < 0.001 * |
Pre-pregnancy BMI (kg/m2) | 23.7 (21.7, 28.5) | 22.7 (20.8, 26.02) | 0.004 * |
Pre-pregnancy BMI < 18.5 (%) | 2 (1.71%) | 28 (4.12%) | 0.32 |
Pre-pregnancy BMI 18.5–24.9 (%) | 69 (58.97%) | 438 (64.41%) | 0.31 |
Pre-pregnancy BMI 25–29.9 (%) | 46 (39.32%) | 214 (31.47%) | 0.12 |
Pre-pregnancy BMI ≥ 30 (%) | 25 (21.37%) | 75 (11.03%) | 0.003 * |
BMI < 18.5 during pregnancy | 1 (0.855%) | 20 (2.94%) | 0.32 |
BMI 18.5–24.9 during pregnancy | 66 (56.41%) | 422 (62.06%) | 0.29 |
BMI 25–29.9 during pregnancy | 20 (17.09%) | 157 (23.09%) | 0.19 |
BMI ≥ 30 during pregnancy | 30 (25.64%) | 81 (11.91%) | p < 0.001 * |
Smoking (%) | 21 (17.95%) | 60 (8.82%) | 0.004 * |
Parity | |||
0 | 60 (51.28%) | 347 (51.03%) | 1 |
1 | 44 (37.61%) | 253 (37.21%) | 1 |
2 | 12 (10.26%) | 69 (10.15%) | 1 |
3 | 1 (0.855%) | 9 (1.32%) | 1 |
4 | 0 (0%) | 2 (0.294%) | - |
ART (%) | 11 (9.4%) | 48 (7.06%) | 0.48 |
Thyroid Disease (%) | 13 (11.11%) | 93 (13.68%) | 0.54 |
Time Period | Adherence to MD | GDM (N = 117) | Non-GDM (N = 680) | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pre-pregnancy (A) | Total MD Score (median, IQR) | 4 (3, 6) | 5 (3, 6) | 0.58 |
Low adherence (%) | N = 61 (52.14%) | N = 332 (48.82%) | 0.57 | |
Medium adherence (%) | N = 19 (16.24%) | N = 141 (20.74%) | 0.32 | |
High adherence (%) | N = 37 (31.62%) | N = 207 (30.44%) | 0.88 | |
During pregnancy (B) | Total MD Score (median, IQR) | 5 (4, 6) | 5 (3, 6) | 0.45 |
Low adherence (%) | N = 50 (42.74%) | N = 317 (46.62%) | 0.5 | |
Medium adherence (%) | N = 30 (25.64%) | N = 159 (23.38%) | 0.68 | |
High adherence (%) | N = 37 (31.62%) | N = 204 (30%) | 0.81 |
Time Period | Factor | Dominant Food Groups | Pattern Type | Variance Explained (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|
A | Factor 1 | Non-refined products and grains, fruits, boiled salad, legumes, nuts and olives and oil | Whole plant-based | 6.79% |
Factor 2 | Sugary sweets and sugar beverages, vegetables, nuts and olives and oil, animal fats, ultra processed foods and cold cuts and refined | Processed/sweet | 5.24% | |
Factor 3 | Beverages | Beverage-heavy | 3.47% | |
B | Factor 1 | Fresh juice, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and olives and oil | Plant-rich with juice | 5.12% |
Factor 2 | Sugary sweets and sugar beverages, animal fats, ultra processed foods and cold cuts and refined | Western/processed | 4.82% | |
Factor 3 | Sugar alternatives | Sweetener-focused | 2.28% |
MD Adherence | Time Period | Factor | Dominant Foods | Association | aOR (95% CI) | p-Value | Power (aOR) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
High | Pre-pregnancy (A) | 3–A | Beverages | ↑ Risk | 1.96 (1.31–3.02) | 0.001 * | 1 |
Medium | During pregnancy (B) | 1–B | Fresh juice, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts and olives and oil | ↑ Risk | 2.91 (1.50–6.24) | 0.003 * | 1 |
Medium | During pregnancy (B) | 2–B | Sugary sweets & sugar beverages, animal fats, ultra processed foods & cold cuts & refined | ↓ Risk | 0.34 (0.17–0.64) | 0.001 * | 1 |
Medium | During pregnancy (B) | 3–B | Sugar alternatives | ↑ Risk | 4.94 (1.48–19.36) | 0.014 * | 1 |
Low | During pregnancy (B) | 3–B | Sugar alternatives | ↑ Risk | 2.16 (1.23–3.85) | 0.008 * | 1 |
Time Period | MD Adherence | Food Group | aOR (95% CI) | p-Value | Power (aOR) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
A | High | Boiled salad | 0.09 (0.01–0.73) | 0.032 * | 1 |
B | High | Boiled salad | 0.11 (0.01–0.76) | 0.039 * | 1 |
A | Medium | Ultra processed and Cold cuts and refined | 0.99 (0.99–0.99) | 0.037 * | 0.05 |
B | Medium | Fruits | 1.03 (1, 1.07) | 0.022 * | 0.062 |
A | Low | Non-refined products and grains | 1.02 (1.01–1.03) | <0.001 *** | 0.064 |
B | Low | Non-refined products and grains | 1.01 (1, 1.02) | 0.005 ** | 0.057 |
A | Low | Ultra processed and Cold cuts and refined | 0.99 (0.99–0.99) | 0.027 * | 0.05 |
A | Non-stratified | Boiled salad | 0.19 (0.05–0.63) | 0.008 ** | 1 |
A | Non-stratified | Non-refined products and grains | 1.01 (1.00–1.02) | 0.005 ** | 0.059 |
A | Non-stratified | Ultra processed and Cold cuts and refined | 0.99 (0.99–0.99) | 0.021 * | 0.05 |
B | Non-stratified | Non-refined products and grains | 1.01 (1.00–1.02) | 0.002 ** | 0.058 |
B | Non-stratified | Ultra processed and Cold cuts and refined | 0.99 (0.99–0.99) | 0.037 * | 0.05 |
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Tranidou, A.; Siargkas, A.; Magriplis, E.; Tsakiridis, I.; Kripouri, P.; Apostolopoulou, A.; Chourdakis, M.; Dagklis, T. Association of Food-Specific Glycemic Load and Distinct Dietary Components with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Within a Mediterranean Dietary Pattern: A Prospective Cohort Study. Nutrients 2025, 17, 1917. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17111917
Tranidou A, Siargkas A, Magriplis E, Tsakiridis I, Kripouri P, Apostolopoulou A, Chourdakis M, Dagklis T. Association of Food-Specific Glycemic Load and Distinct Dietary Components with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Within a Mediterranean Dietary Pattern: A Prospective Cohort Study. Nutrients. 2025; 17(11):1917. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17111917
Chicago/Turabian StyleTranidou, Antigoni, Antonios Siargkas, Emmanouela Magriplis, Ioannis Tsakiridis, Panagiota Kripouri, Aikaterini Apostolopoulou, Michail Chourdakis, and Themistoklis Dagklis. 2025. "Association of Food-Specific Glycemic Load and Distinct Dietary Components with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Within a Mediterranean Dietary Pattern: A Prospective Cohort Study" Nutrients 17, no. 11: 1917. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17111917
APA StyleTranidou, A., Siargkas, A., Magriplis, E., Tsakiridis, I., Kripouri, P., Apostolopoulou, A., Chourdakis, M., & Dagklis, T. (2025). Association of Food-Specific Glycemic Load and Distinct Dietary Components with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Within a Mediterranean Dietary Pattern: A Prospective Cohort Study. Nutrients, 17(11), 1917. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17111917